There was a strong turnout for the Tuesday evening invitation race on May 29. Racing took place in light winds on the DBSC course, within the harbour. Darren Burke was first of the visiting helms, on Deranged, while Trish Daly led the new crews on Snow White.
See below for pictures and full results…
DLFFF Secretary Alan Dooley reports:
The Flying Fifteen Fleet is one of the biggest in Dun Laoghaire, and certainly one of the most active. Over the past few months, there has been an increased interest in the class, and several inquiries were received from sailors who wanted to try one.
We had taken people out on the odd Thursday or Saturday, but this tended only to happen when the regular crew/helm was unavailable (things are very competitive).
Captain Peter Murphy and his Committee decided to run an Invitation Race to address this and to follow-on from our successful “Try-a-Fifteen” day in October, and the wheels were duly set in motion.
The word was put out and we were very pleasantly surprised with the response. As we only had 13 boats available, these were rapidly allocated, and it looks like we will need to run the event again to satisfy the demand.
DBSC very kindly gave us a start, behind the other classes. On race day, the wind went very light and looked like it might die altogether, but Race Officer Mick Hanney (Mermaid class) wisely decided to get under way inside the harbour, and got us going on schedule.
The wind remained light, but never died, and we had an excellent race on a tight windward-leeward course.
Darren Burke, with Alan Green doing the housework up front, seemed to have an instinct as to where the little morsels of pressure were developing, and duly led the fleet, pretty much from start to finish.
Ciaran Crummy and Trish Daly needed good teamwork to keep the pressure on Darren, and also keep the gaggle behind at bay. Ben Malone and Adrian Cooper showed great skill in fighting their way up through the fleet, after a slowish start, to take the third spot.
In spite of the very light conditions, all really enjoyed the event, which showed that the Fifteen is not just a boat for the heavy stuff, but a joy to sail in all weathers.
Back at the National Yacht Club, we had a very pleasant evening, and a “surprise” prize-giving. Trophies were awarded to Darren and Trish, and all of the invitees got a souvenir medal, kindly sponsored by Leinsterboats.ie and Boatjumble.ie (well done Ronan).
We are already planning another similar event, next time we’ll be hoping for a bit of a breeze!
Anyone interested in acquiring a Flying Fifteen will get plenty of support from any of us in the Dun Laoghaire fleet. Send us an email, or call Alan Dooley (DL Fleet Sec) on 087-8173398.
Pictures on the water by Ronan Beirne and in the clubhouse by Alan Dooley
{oziogallery 118}
RESULTS
|
Position |
Boat Number |
Helm |
Crew |
|
1 |
3665 |
Darren Burke |
Alan Green |
|
2 |
3747 |
Ciaran Crummy |
Trish Daly |
|
3 |
3198 |
Ben Malone |
Adrian Cooper |
|
4 |
3897 |
Luke Malcolm |
Ken Dumpleton |
|
5 |
3556 |
Emma O’Carroll |
Frazer Mitchell |
|
6 |
3749 |
Conor O’Regan |
Peter Sherry |
|
7 |
3762 |
John O’Sullivan |
Eoin Lynch |
|
8 |
3773 |
Alan Dooley |
David Cullinan |
|
9 |
3704 |
Helen Cooney |
Peter Murphy |
|
10 |
3383 |
Valerie Mulvin |
Deirdre Keena |
|
11 |
2548 |
Robin Hilliard |
Svetlana Frolova |
|
Thrown out |
|
Dave Mulvin |
Richard Goodbody |
|
Chickened out |
|
Niall Meagher |
Rob Bloomer |
